Bruce Bratton hosts University Grapevine, linking local and campus issues, every Tuesday 7:30-8:30 p.m. on KZSC 88.1 fm.
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WHOLE FOODS SPY... REPORTING IN FROM THE FRONT. My BrattonOnline.com spy reports in with, "One impression that Whole Foods has created, is that they are creating lots of local jobs. In reality, one Whole Food worker related that 80% of the workforce are current Whole Foods workers who have been transferred here to work in the store. So the dreams of Santa Cruz city council's 'local job creation' are largely a myth. How many of the Council members will check up on this???
Whole Foods has had their 'spies' out looking over Staff of Life and New Leaf frequently. My spy says "I think one thing they are trying to do, is find locally made products that they can bring into their store. They are going to make a lot of noise about all the local products they carry, and all the local farmers they support. Of course, they are good at creating an impression, but the reality behind it might be something quite different, but it is difficult to really check on. Both me and my spy noticed in the new store opening last Wednesday, that they have a huge wooden sign/display over the produce saying "Santa Cruz, California" which implies that much of the produce is local. I question the reality, but impressions are strong. I have been reading the Senile's blog, and many posters have noted that "Whole Foods carries mostly local produce' which cannot be true, especially at this time of the year.
Another thing Whole Foods has been doing recently, is muscling small companies to give them the right to 'exclusive' sales of their products, for an introductory period, usually a year, I think. In order to be able to be carried by Whole Foods, the companies agree to only sell to Whole Foods during this time period, so other stores may not carry that product.
The spy report concludes with, "They also always open up new stores heavily staffed, to provide great service initially. Again creating this impression in the customers mind, and then slimming down the staff after the introductory period". Watch closely.
ORGANIC FOOD....WHO NEEDS IT? It's nearly treasonable in Santa Cruz but do read the N.Y Times piece on organic food...just another affectation???
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/weekinreview/22bittman.html?_r=1&hp
"In the six-and-one-half years since the federal government began certifying food as "organic," Americans have taken to the idea with considerable enthusiasm. Sales have at least doubled, and three-quarters of the nation's grocery stores now carry at least some organic food. A Harris poll in October 2007 found that about 30 percent of Americans buy organic food at least on occasion, and most think it is safer, better for the environment and healthier.
It seems to have become the magic cure-all, synonymous with eating well, healthfully, sanely, even ethically. But eating "organic" offers no guarantee of any of that. And the truth is that most Americans eat so badly — we get 7 percent of our calories from soft drinks, more than we do from vegetables; the top food group by caloric intake is "sweets"; and one-third of nation's adults are now obese — that the organic question is a secondary one. It's not unimportant, but it's not the primary issue in the way Americans eat. "You can begin in your own cupboard," she said, "by eliminating processed food, trying to cook a meal a little more often, trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables." Popularizing such choices may not be as marketable as creating a logo that says "organic." But when Americans have had their fill of "value-added" and over processed food, perhaps they can begin producing and consuming more food that treats animals and the land as if they mattered. Some of that food will be organic, and hooray for that. Meanwhile, they should remember that the word itself is not synonymous with "safe," "healthy," "fair" or even necessarily "good." End of NY Times piece.
COUNCIL CANDIDATES. Merrie Schaller emails to say re last week's BrattonOnline...
"Reading your latest column, I noticed that you referred to Lisa Molyneaux as the GLBT candidate for city council; meaning no disrespect to Ms. Molyneaux, whom I don't recall ever having met, being a lesbian doesn't make one the GLBT candidate, any more than being female makes one the women's candidate. Being actively involved in and/or supportive of the local GLBT community would make one a candidate of our community; as we get closer to the race, we'll be able to judge who that might be. Fondly, Merrie Schaller, Co-Chair The GLBT Alliance of Santa Cruz County.
La Bahia public hearing Mark your calendars for this one. The City Council will hear from constituents, supporters for the new hotel, and opponents at the Civic Auditorium on the evening of March 31stat 7 p.m.
Most of the folks I've been talking to about this project all favor a new hotel. That just isn't an issue here. What we're looking at is still another attempt by some in our business community to do some serious union busting. That should be issue number one; the owners of this project need to hire union workers – all union workers, for both construction and operation of the hotel.
Why are the developers hanging onto their demand for a hotel that exceeds the height limitation in the city's building codes? This should be a no-brainer if they're serious about building a quality hotel, one that residents can live with. The orchestrated letters in the Sentinel favoring the taller hotel want us to believe that the project won't "pencil out" without exceeding the building codes like they want to. With 25 fewer rooms (at the top), they'll still be making well over $6 million each year. ($250/night – 75% occupancy). You can tweak the numbers in either direction, but that's still a lot of income to the owners.
What this hotel really is. If the developers get what they want (no unions, exceeding planning ordinance restrictions), it will be a precedent setter for the future of the coast, not just in Santa Cruz. Let's hope the council sees it this way on the 31st.
Of course if they do, they'll be blasted for being anti-business and the developers may use this as an excuse to bail out, like the Coast Hotel developers did, even after the council approved that project.
The next Judge's election
It looks like the last election for Superior Court Judge set the pattern for future judge's elections. That would be to start early and run hard (the election is over a year away). The Sentinel ran an article covering two candidates (John Gallagher and Steve Wright) that have intentions on running to replace Judge Michael Barton when he retires.
Last November's election for Superior Court Judge had only two contestants, Ariadne Symons (the winner) and Steve Wright. However, there are at least five more candidates besides Wright and Gallagher that are considering running for judge in the next election. Stay tuned to this issue: it should be interesting.
NUMEROUS NAMES LIKELY TO APPEAR FOR VACANT WATSONVILLE DISTRICT 7 CITY COUNCIL SEAT.
Numerous names are already floating out there as possible applicants for the vacant District 7 city council seat that opened after the death of Councilmember Dale Skillicorn on March 14th. Long time educator Dr. Lupe Rivas, adult education director Dr. Nancy Bilicich, real estate agent Dee Dee Vargas, real estate agent Dana Sales, real estate agent Rick Danna, Monterey County Community Foundation Program Director Ted Rico, and former Watsonville City Councilwoman Betty Bobeda are all possible candidates. But the list may grow before the Wednesday, March 25th deadline. Candidates have submitted a letter of intent before the deadline along with any supplemental information they would like to attach. The final decision will be made by the Watsonville City Council on Thursday, March 26th and the meeting will start at 3pm. The process was fast-tracked to March 26th when Council members Greg Caput and Kimberly Petersen said they would not be available on some days due to international trips to Mexico and Japan respectively. A candidate would have to obtain a minimum of four votes from city council members in order for a candidate to win the seat otherwise the decision could go to a special election rather than an appointment. A special election would cost the city nearly $20,000 if held on the November 2009 election day. An appointment, on the contrary, would continue until November 2010 and would not cost the city anything.
ALEJO SELECTED TO THE VICE-MAYORSHIP. Watsonville activist and recently elected city councilmember Luis Alejo easily won the vice-mayors position at last Friday's city council meeting by a 4-1 vote. Conservative Councilmember Greg Caput was the sole vote against Alejo, but he would not explain any reasoning for his dissenting vote. Councilmember Emilio Martinez apparently did not attend the meeting due to having family guests visiting from afar. But the four who voted for Alejo are the more progressive votes on the council and will likely be the decisive votes in regards to the District 7 city council replacement decision. District 7 has never been held by a minority or a progressive in the history of Watsonville, and Thursday's vote may be a historical one in the city's history. But the politics and demographics of District 7 have been changing over the years especially with its more recent Vista Montana housing development, where a larger and younger number of Latino families live. Last December, many expected Alejo to be selected as vice-mayor and he had an outpouring of support during that city council meeting. However, at the last minute, Councilmember Kimberly Petersen changed her vote against Alejo, which made Alejo fall one vote short. Skillicorn was then nominated and selected for the position despite not one community member speaking in support of him.
MURAL ORDINANCE LIKELY TO BE MODIFIED. In 2004, the City of Watsonville approved its first ever city mural ordinance to regulate murals throughout the city. In particular, Republican and then City Mayor Judy Doering Nielson allegedly disliked a Latino-themed mural in the Latino neighborhood on East Front Street that contained an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The mural was painted by renowned local muralist Guillermo "Yermo" Aranda who had sought input of neighborhood residents about what images they wanted to see in their mural. But the Virgin of Guadalupe image was woven in with many other cultural and social images. But Doering Nielson was allegedly furious and wanted to prevent any other mural from containing similar images, and pushed a very restrictive mural ordinance. Since then, very few murals have put to the test until recently when a mural by the Watsonville Brown Berets came under scrutiny by a few local conservative critics. In the end, it was the mural ordinance that came under the most scrutiny by city council members and a sub-committee was set up to review the existing language. The mural ordinance is up for review on Tuesday, March 24th by the Watsonville City Council and will likely be substantially changed to remove restrictive language and to make the ordinance more conducive to promoting murals and public art within the city.
QUARNSTROM NOTES. (Lee Quarnstrom wrote for the Watsonville Register Pajaronian and the San Jose Mercury for decades...he moved to Orange County) . I must comment on a small piece I noticed in your column a couple of weeks ago: "FLUFFY TOILET PAPER ALERT. The ever-vigilant Kelly Rivas passes this on... "Just learned this, multi-plied, soft, fluffy toilet paper comes from virgin wood and can be more damaging to the environment than Hummers."
Yes, Bruce, but from this distant vantage point, La Habra, I do believe that I would prefer to wipe my butt with fluffy toilet paper rather than with Hummers. Perhaps we are just too used to creature comforts here in La Habra, home of the Octomom. But of course, we are not quite as environmentally sensitive as you are up there in my old hometown.
Most folks down here are angry at the Octomom for some reason or other that I cannot figure out. They apparently believe that she is somehow trying to qualify for more welfare; but the newspapers (yes, we still have two pretty good papers down here -= the LA times and the OC Register) report that she's been subsidized by British tabloids and by Dr. Phil, who is some kind of television feel-good guru. I feel sorry for her: can you imagine trying to raise 14 kids by yourself, 8 of them tiny infants? Whew! The only thing that annoys me are the "entertainment news" helicopters that circle for hours over her house, about a mile east of us, every time she brings another of the little nippers home from the hospital.
Refering to last week's Bratton Online, the point is that the Coonerty father and son DO own a bookstore, not a butcher shop! Santa Cruzans who boycotted the new Borders when it opened a decade or so ago did so because they supported locally owned businesses, not merely because the business in question was a venerable book shop. They no doubt would have continued to buy their steaks and chops from the Coonerty Meat Market had a Piggly Wiggly opened down the block!Lee Q.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. Rick Turner emailed in to remind me that Jim Kweskin of Jug Band fame is not the same guy as The Amazing Kreskin of whom they based The Great Buck Howard movie on. I'll bet that Kweskin and especially Fritz Richmond (washtub bass player with the band) had more secrets than Kreskin still does. Kreskin still baffles audiences by finding his hidden paycheck after performances. Rick added, "As one who knew Kweskin back in the Jug Band days...this I know... Jim may have gone mental for a while with the Mel Lyman cult, but..."thanks Rick.
There was a big meeting at Cabrillo last Thursday eve. It was sponsored by California Forward, a newish group, formed by a coalition of California business, labor and political leaders. The purpose of the organization is to try to reform the way things are done in Sacramento in order to more effectively meet the challenges California is now facing. That is obviously a task worth doing. One of its goals was re-districting reform; CF was active in the recent successful campaign to change the way re-districting was done. It is non or bi-partisan; Fred Keeley and Bruce McPherson are charter members. Thanks to some major corporate grants, CF has money and is using some of it to tour the state with programs such as the one. More information about CF is at www.caforward.org (see below)
Right now CF is concentrating on taxes---how they work, what kind of taxes should we have, how tax policy can be reformed. As everyone knows, or should know, that's a task worth doing too. Our state tax system is screwed up and of course that screw-up adversely affects local tax receipts as well. Fred Keeley was one of the major presenters. He observed that attempting to address the way the legislature handles taxes is like trying to repair a new Mercedes with tools equipped only to repair a Model T. He observed that the biggest obstacles to effective tax policies are the 2/3 majority requirement and the increased dogmatism of our elected representatives.
For 3 hours the group heard about various tax proposals and ways that the tax process could be made more manageable. There was discussion about ways to increase taxes. The presenters took care to assure us that all of their tax-proposals could be revenue neutral. This may have been to pacify the anti-tax element, but I would have thought that increasing tax revenues was a major goal. Possible new revenue sources are taxation of some kinds of services, a carbon tax and a modification of property tax as it affects corporations. For example, Prop 13 could be modified by the legislature to re-define what constitutes a sale, so re-evaluations of corporate real property can be more equitable. (There may be no stomach to attack prop 13---a law that seems as untouchable as the Virgin Mary.) There was no discussion of what I think is a major means of producing an equitable sales tax, taxation of internet and catalog sales.
I think and hope that re-districting will help, although the best option is to motivate the electorate to defeat dogmatists of whatever stripe. The reactionaries have done a marvelous job of demonizing taxes---it is difficult to remember, for example, that the top marginal tax rate in, say, 1945 , was 91%---and now we scream at anything higher than 35%. It may take our current major economic crisis to convince the electorate that generally one gets in services what one pays for in taxes and that government serves very real needs. That, and an awareness that the purpose of trickle down was really to pour wealth upwards.
California Forward has the potential substantially to affect California politics in very positive directions. It is broadly progressive, yet responsive to concerns shared by conservative elements. If the meeting at Cabrillo was any indication, CF has already stimulated thought and created a beginning consensus about positive ways to improve Sacramento process, and, yes, even to increase tax revenue. Too bad about the far right, but they're incorrigible and continue to self-destruct. (
MORE ABOUT CALIFORNIA FORWARD. If you go to their website you'll see that Leon Panetta was former co-chair of CF. Click under "Origins and Support" and you'll read," For California to meet the challenges of the coming decades - in the areas of healthcare, education, the environment and economic growth, among others - the state will need to dramatically change how public decisions are made and how public dollars are spent".
In recognition of these challenges several major California foundations (The California Endowment, The Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation) came together to ask four civic organizations to recommend a plan to achieve this change. California Forward is the result. This new organization was created by California Common Cause, Center for Governmental Studies, New California Network and the Commonwealth Club of California's Voices of Reform Project. The goal of California Forward is to contribute to improving the quality of life for all Californians by creating more responsive, representative and cost-effective government". That's what the website says.
PATTONS PROGRAM. Attorney Gary Patton produces this report as his KUSP Land Use report. He talks of the General Plan and changes in Santa Cruz such as water availability, and traffic. He almost rants about Monterey County bellying-up to developers....again. He tells of the work that the League of Women Voters accomplishes. Then he gives big-time warnings of the Watsonville Atkinson Lane proposed development of agricultural land into developers dreams...get warned!!!
EAGAN'S DEEP COVER. Eagan bloody well addresses our mutual problem scroll down....
LANDAU'S PROGRES. Saul's article is titled, "Sliding Down In Anger" he talks of the lunacy in our financial solutions and some much needed re-figuring, check it here...
WATERS WEIGHS IN. Christina gushes about this weekend's Pinot Paradise marathon and makes a few choice observations about a certain new food store in town - at www.christinawaters.com.
KNOWING. You think you've seen Nicolas Cage do crazy??? Knowing is some combination of Hallmark, Thomas Kinkade, Don Miller, and Mary Poppins. It's bizarre but not enough to top Plan 9 or whatever ten films are your worst nightmares. The best images are a toss-up (pun) between the running moose on fire and the blossoming Yggdrasil mit schlagg at the end. Never mind if you don't know Yggdrasil.
I LOVE YOU MAN. Some stupid reviewer said this was an intelligent movie about men's relationships. I gave it about 90 minutes and walked out to see Knowing which was screening right next door. How they can continue making movies this terrible aside from using them as tax write offs I'll never know. It's not so much the poor taste it's more the bad acting, the unbelievable plot, and the lack of feeling that the entire casts exudes. Don't ever even rent it.
DUPLICITY. Clive Owens and Julia Roberts have maybe 2-4 minutes in this movie that work. The movie company must have figured that they made a great sizzling pair and it's possible that given a script that made sense and a reason for the spying that is the crux of this mess...it could have worked. Reviewers and friends all warned that due to flashbacks and edits no one could make linear sense of this corporate spy plot and they are right. There is no reason to see this movie.(I don't call them films anymore because it's all digital and no film is involved)
SUNSHINE CLEANING. If this movie doesn't convince you that Amy Adams is one of the best actresses alive today nothing will. She transcends every part she plays. Like Sean Penn Amy gets into roles like no other actress/actor can even approach. The film is only so-so and has Alan Arkin but it works so hard to be cute, sweet, and commercial that you wonder what was the point....but Amy Adams is worth going to see.
DO GO SEE. Gomorrah, The Great Buck Howard, Watchmen, Coraline, Two Lovers, The Reader, Wendy & Lucy, and for sure don't miss The Class and Moscow, Belgium, and Che.
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. I host this interview radio program on KZSC 88.1 fm every Thursday 4-5 pm. This Thursday I'll talk with director Maya Barsacq and choreographer Sharon Took about the April 4th concert "Night Flight" by The Santa Cruz Chamber Orchestra. In the second half hour I'll talk politics with Santa Cruz City Council person Katherine Beiers.
QUOTES. "Love is ideal. Marriage is real. The confusion of the two shall never go unpunished", J.W.von Goethe. "The poor wish to be rich, the rich wish to be happy, the single wish to be married, and the married wish to be dead", Ann Landers. Here's a cool one..."Every man is thoroughly happy twice in his life: just after he has met his first love and just after he has left his last one", H.L. Mencken.
Deep Cover
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
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THE HISTORICAL VIEW OF SAVING LA BAHIA. Once again, we have more of Judy Steen's late breaking comments on just where the development/preservation of the historic La Bahia stands...here's excerpts from her statement..
The City of Santa Cruz Historic Preservation Commission at its March 4 meeting once again voted to recommend denial of a Historic Demolition Permit and denial of a Historic Building Survey Deletion for the La Bahia Apartments. The denials were based on review of the developer's most recent submission of plans for the La Bahia Hotel Project, referred to as Revised Alternative 3A. None of the historic elements of the project design really changed from the previous plan. The project design still involves complete demolition of all buildings on the site. The only visible exterior reminder of the La Bahia, its distinctive tower, is reduced to an irrelevant, perfunctory imitation, diminished by the mass and height of the proposed complex, and efforts at replicating the signature, interior courtyards result instead in shadowy canyon floors.
Architectural plans lack necessary detail and are in a constant state of flux.
In addition to recommending denial of the two historic-related permits, the HPC voted to forward a letter to the Planning Commission and to the City Council that lists HPC recommendations for inclusion on the replacement project.
The HPC letter also suggests that the HPC La Bahia Subcommittee and members of the Planning Commission and City Council work with the developers through design development. The letter also states that if delisting the building is to occur, it should only occur after a Certificate of Occupancy is obtained for the replacement structure after it is finaled.
The City Council will hold a public hearing on the La Bahia project at a March 31 meeting at 7:00 p.m., in the Civic Auditorium, but will not take a final vote until an April meeting. If the Council approves demolition of La Bahia, CEQA requires that the Council provide a written statement of overriding considerations for the project that will cause a significant impact to the historic environment. Judy adds that she hopes that Santa Cruzans turn out for this hearing...and help protect not just the La Bahia but the entire Boardwalk shore line. Read her entire letter here (link expands, click again to collapse).
SANTA CRUZ CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES. Well, David Terrazas the LOBA, NEXT Santa Cruz, developers, chambers candidate has already declared his intention to run again. So has Lisa Molyneaux the LGBT candidate. Cynthia Mathews, Mike Rotkin and Lynn Robinson's terms all expire Nov.2010. This could be our big break!!! Let's plan ahead!!!
IMPORTANCE OF BOOKSTORES. I wasn't there but I sure heard about the giggling and the total seriousness involved in a room full of people discussing whether or not the Coonerty father and son team would have had anywhere near the image or impact if say they were in some other business besides the near- holiness of owning an independent bookstore. Like the Coonerty Meat Market or The Coonerty Pub & Chips. I won't reveal the results of that discussion....go have your own.
GARY PATTON WINS STATE LAWYER AWARD. CALIFORNIA LAWYER MAGAZINE ANNOUNCES 2009 CLAY AWARD WINNERS. SAN FRANCISCO, February 17 — California Lawyer magazine has named 43 attorneys around the state to receive the thirteenth annual California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year Awards. Their achievements had a significant impact in 2008, or their work is expected to have such an effect in the coming years. The awards recognize 22 accomplishments in 13 areas of legal practice. The honored attorneys include sole practitioners, attorneys from international law firms, government attorneys, and a law school professor.
The recipients of the CLAY Awards are featured in the March 2009 issue of California Lawyer.
Representing the Environment Gary A. Patton Planning and Conservation League; Wittwer & Parkin, Santa Cruz UNQUOTE
WHAT LEFTMOST CITY? The debate rages on after many folks have read Bill Domhoff's book, The Leftmost City. Some are wondering what part of the book tells about flipsy-flopsy Mike Rotkin endorsing Republican Bruce McPherson in McPherson's flyer when he ran for State Senator and even called McPherson "relatively liberal". That happened in 2000 if I remember correctly.
WHAT LEFTMOST CITY 2?Let's have a show of hands by everybody who believes that the Santa Cruz City Council would support a tent city like Sacramento's. Oprah featured that tent city on her show. There are now about 1200 residents in those tents. Which Santa Cruz City Council members do You think would support it? Do you think the rest of the Santa Cruzans would support such a thing?
WHAT LEFTMOST CITY 3?I ran into Robert Norse last Saturday. And he made an excellent point; he's not campaigning for the City Council to do more for the homeless he said he's just trying to get them to stop such cruel legislation against the homeless.
ABOUT TRADER JOES. I keep bringing up these items about Trader Joes. (From Wikipedia)..."The Germany based Aldi group who owns Trader Joes operates about 8,078 individual stores worldwide. A new store opens every week in Britain alone."
WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT WAS LIKE ON THE FRONT LINES OF THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN LAST NOVEMBER?
This month's People's Democratic Club meeting is being combined with the Santa Cruz County Democratic Central Committee meeting.
For those of us who envied the participating warriors in last November's presidential election, you should plan to attend the meeting this Thursday, March 19th, 7PM at the Galleria, 740 Front Street in Santa Cruz, (Suite 165). You will be thoroughly entertained by "Stories From Battleground States", recollections by Zach Friend, Chair of the Santa Cruz County Democratic Central Committee and Spencer Critchley from the Monterey County Democratic Central Committee about their experiences on the Obama Campaign where they served in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Colorado during the 2008 Presidential Campaign. RSVP: Phone 427-2516 or Email info@cruzdemocrats.org with your reservation, as seats are limited. A $5 Donation to the Democratic Central Committee is requested, to be used to defray the cost of keeping a Democratic Party HQ in place for the next year.
THOSE IDENTITY THIEVES AND WHAT THEY REALLY COST US.
An article in last week's Sentinel covered the arrest and conviction of two people who were found guilty of a number of crimes related to fraud, identity theft, and other offenses. As hard as the Sentinel reporter tried, she didn't come close to covering the grief and pain inflicted on the children involved, the neighbors involved, and the cost we all pay for such crimes. Since we're close to this, our family members were victims, as were our neighbors, here's some advice. Get a locked mailbox or P.O. Box. Never leave outgoing mail in an unlocked box. If you see indications of drug and/or child abuse, take it up with the authorities right away, and then stay on their case if nothing is done.
NEWS FROM THE COMMITTEE FOR A VIBRANT DOWNTOWN
Here's an important news item from the Campaign for Sensible Transportation's website. If you work in downtown Santa Cruz, read on:
Santa Cruz Downtown Employee Commute Habits Survey (About our Commute Habits Survey)The proposal to build a 5-story garage on the site of the Downtown Farmers' Market has been put on ice. As a result of our collective efforts, in September the City Council tabled the first decision on the garage, which was to fund the design. The Public Works Department still wants to build the garage, however. Our task now is to promote the implementation of "Parking Demand Management" downtown. That means providing incentives for people to commute to work downtown to use modes other than the single-occupant automobile. More alternative commutes means more parking spaces freed up for customers, and less demand for expensive and unsustainable parking structures. We're starting with a survey of people who work downtown to find out their commuting habits and what incentives would be attractive in supporting a choice of alternative commute modes.
If you work downtown, please click on this link to take the survey on-line. It takes less than 7 minutes to complete.
We also have copies of the survey available for printing, in case you might wish to fill one out by hand instead of on-line. To download a copy, click on either English version or Spanish version.
Thanks very much. If you would like to help the Campaign generate support for Parking Demand Management downtown, please send us an email by clicking here.
Downtown employee? Click here to take the survey.
WATSONVILLE VICE-MAYOR DALE SKILLICORN PASSES AWAY SATURDAY MARCH 14
Watsonville City Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem Dale Skillicorn died Saturday morning due to a brain aneurysm after being hospitalized for reparatory complications on Friday. Skillicorn represented the most conservative city council district in Watsonville, District 7, for the last seven years, and was very active in Republican politics including the Republican County Central Committee. He is credited with many years of community service, such as serving on the county planning commission, the Watsonville Parks and Recreation Commission, and various non-profit organizations such as Toys for Tots and the Redman-Hirahara House Foundation. He was also a strong proponent of attracting green jobs to Watsonville, and led the effort to start the first annual Alternative Energy Expo at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
During the last election, Skillicorn actively campaigned against Democratic candidates, including Councilman Manuel Bersamin and now Councilman Luis Alejo. He also came into some heightened controversy several years ago when he allegedly wrote an opinion column that alluded to some Watsonville Latino activists being part of "Al Qaeda" cells. He later wrote an apology in the Register-Pajaronian when he received sharp criticism from the Latino community. During his last re-election campaign in 2006, he also received some criticism after alleging making homophobic remarks to voters about his opponent, Mireya Gomez, a Latina lesbian activist who is highly involved in county LGBT issues. He won by almost a 60-40 margin over Gomez.
The Watsonville City Council will now have to either call for a special election or appoint a replacement within 30 days. The Council is expected to appoint someone, due to the high expense of holding a special election. Whoever is appointed would have to run again in November 2010 since that is when Skillicorn would have termed out after serving 8 years on the city council. Since he was also the vice-mayor, the city council will also have to choose a replacement.
PROPOSED WATSONVILLE STYROFOAM BAN ALREADY DRAWING OPPOSITION FROM INDUSTRY. The Watsonville City Council is expected to consider a possible ban on polystyrene/styrofoam for food packaging at its March 24th meeting. The cities of Capitola, Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz plus the County of Santa Cruz have already approved similar ordinances over the last couple of years. The City of Monterey was the latest Monterey Bay city to also approve a ban, along with dozens of others throughout California. But that would not stop any opposition from the American Chemistry Council and the Plastics Food Packaging Group who have already written a letter of opposition dated March 13 to the city council. This battle should get interesting and concerned persons might want to attend that March 24th city council meeting to see the debate in person.
FARMWORKER PHOTOS EXHIBIT TO SHOW PLIGHT OF CALIFORNIA INDIGENOUS MEXICAN FARMWORKERS. Renowned author and photographer David Bacon will be speaking and featuring some of his latest photos at an exhibit, "Living Under the Trees," at the Watsonville Public Library Community Room on Sunday, March 22, 2009 between 4-5:30pm. The moving photographs feature Mexican indigenous farmworkers from the State of Oaxaca, who often speak very little Spanish but do speak various indigenous languages including Mixteco, Zapotec, or Triqui. Watsonville has had a growing population of indigenous Mixteco migrant workers over the last 6-8 years, and David Bacon's talks are always worth checking out. The photos will remain on exhibit for a month. To see some of David Bacon's photographs, check out: http://dbacon.igc.org/.
Why did the C file an application with LAFCO when its obligation under the agreement was only to not oppose the University's application?. The City's agreement to not affirmatively support the extension was part of the reason CLUE signed off on the agreement.
Next, why did the City agree to split costs of the procedure with the University, when such costs are, as with any other development proposal, the obligation of the developer?
Finally, Why did the City mislead the public about having a public vote (Prop J) on expansion of services?
As far as we know, none of these actions was authorized by the City Council, and the Council may not have been aware of them. Certainly the public was not. A public records request specifically requesting the appropriate information has not revealed how, where and by whom those decisions were made. Democracy may be a messy business. These decisions may have been made as a matter of expediency and efficiency, but that is not the way our City works.. Whomever made the relevant decisions undoubtedly believed they were appropriate. But they might question whether they were substituting their view of what's best for the City for that of the citizens. Those decisions may well not be what is best or what the citizens want. After the hearing, the Council and the public may agree that what the City did is right That does not seem likely, at least as to splitting costs of the application.
As to proposition J, the Council has some explaining to do---the people thought they would have a vote on whether services should be extended----they didn't. The timing of the LAFCO application is indeed suspicious---there will be lots of discussion about that. I think the LAFCO application and all costs related to it should be the obligation of the University. I had an extremely minor role in negotiating the agreement. I believe we all assumed that the University would, bear all the responsibilities involved in the LAFCO application. I support the agreement and I do not advocate attempting to set it aside or scuttle it. I do support a rigorous and complete hearing before LAFCO at which that agency will decide whether environmental and other factors justify extending water and sewer services to the North Campus.
PATTON'S PROGRAM. The Award winning Gary Patton talks about water and development on the Monterey Coast. He pays tribute to the remarkable Marjorie Kay. He discusses San Luis Obisbo and grading on slopes. He gets into the Santa Cruz General Plan. More than that he states "In Monterey County, however, since 1998, not one member of the Board of Supervisors, even one time, has placed even one policy item on the Board agenda". Read what that amounts to. He concludes by telling us what he's going to say to the Sierra Club in a talk next Saturday...to wit and woo,
"Our human civilization and our individual lives are ultimately dependent on the integrity of the natural environment, which supports all life; therefore, respecting the natural environment is vital for our future.
1. We most immediately live in a human-created world, and we can, literally, do "anything" we choose to do within that world; therefore, we need to do things that don't undermine the natural environment on which we ultimately depend.
2. Finally, our governmental agencies provide us a way to act together to build the world we want, one consistent with environmental limits.
I truly believe that our action at the local and state level on land use issues can be particularly important as we face the environmental challenges that are putting our civilization in peril; therefore, my advice is to get involved, and to get involved now!
EAGAN'S DEEP COVER. The late great Chris Mathews once had the same idea sort of a baked Soylent Green with greens. Mr. Eagan adds eggs you'll find out...just scroll down.
LANDAU'S PROGRES. Saul Landau article is titled, "Capitalism has failed-face the facts". He goes on to tell about ENRON and other crooks read it here...http://progreso-weekly.com
WATERS WEIGHS IN. This week Christina talks about Santa Cruz Mountains pinot noirs, offering some of her irrepressible opinion and tasting notes. She also lunches as Oswald and hypes next weekend's Pinot Paradise mega-tasting. All at www.christinawaters.com.
HOSTETTER'S HOT STUFF. By way of usual warning Paul and I can't seem to sync columns so much of his event material has already happened so check carefully. Por Ejemplo he says, "in due time, Molly's Revenge with Moira Smiley, the Bad Livers, Mike Marshall and Darol Anger with Väsen, David Lindley and BeauSoleil (with/avec/mit/con Michael Doucet), Kalman Balogh Gypsy Cimbalom Band, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Zakir Hussain (which may be sold out by now), Tim Eriksen, and last but not least (for right now), the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers in Concert with (you got it) Alasdair Fraser. Get out that calendar now. Details to be found, as usual, here. May the Force be with you." ph
MELTDOWN. This is a series of talks on the National, State, and Local Economic Crises sponsored by: Santa Cruz WILPF and Santa Cruz MoveOn Council....
The Economic Crisis a talk by economist, Ernesto Munoz, PhD at a private home March 18, 6:00 – 7:30 pm To RSVP call (831) 325-4397 or email: cleareconomy@gmail.com
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/meeting/gptqld
Consequences of the Reagan-Bush Era a talk by economist, Ernesto Munoz, PhD
At a private home March 26, 6:00-7:30 pm To RSVP call (831) 325-4397 or email: cleareconomy@gmail.com
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/meeting/gptqld
California's Budget Meltdown: A Town Hall Meeting
John Laird, former Assembly Budget Committee Chair
De Anza Mobile Home Park Clubhouse March 28, 10 am – 12 noon
2395 Delaware Ave., Santa Cruz
To RSVP call (831) 469-9327 http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/meeting/gptqjl
The Credit Crisis and Local Businesses
John Burroughs, Chairman of Lighthouse Bank
Rick Hofstetter, President & CEO, Lighthouse Bank
Guest, Santa Cruz Community Credit Union
Digital Media Factory March 31, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
2809 Mission Street, Santa Cruz To RSVP (831) 469-9327
International Finance - Conclusions
Economist, Ernesto Munoz, PhD
With Ryan Sarnataro, Financial Analyst
At a private home April 2, 6:00-7:30 pm
To RSVP call (831) 325-4397 or email: cleareconomy@gmail.com
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/meeting/gptqqt
Coming in April... On Tuesday April 14 Representative Sam Farr on Stimulus Bill (TBA) and on Saturday April 25 Just Economics Workshop (Digital Media Factory)
LEE QUARNSTROM SENDS NEWS. I'm trying to get old friend Lee Quarnstrom long timer with the Register Pajaronian and the San Jose Mercury to write some stuff for BrattonOnline.com and he did send this," "Life remains good here in La Habra, where the mother of the famous octuplets just bought a house last week, about a mile east of our place", Lee. It's Lee's natural magnetism that draws them.
THOMAS PYNCHON WEBSITE AND NEW BOOK. It's always good fun to tell people about meeting Thomas Pynchon when he lived here and was writing Vineland. I have never revealed where I met him or the mutual friend who introduced me to Pynchon but the two of them have remained in contact. Now my friend has sent the Pynchon website telling about his new book Inherent Vice which should be out in August of this year. Check it out.
MISS MARCH. This disgusting movie shouldn't be allowed in public. Porno is way better than this mess, and has more dignity and is less sexist, racist and with better plots....do not think about this movie.
WATCHMEN. Once again, in spite of reviews and IF you are a comic book or graphic novel fan, go see this visual sensual extravaganza on the big screen.
THE AMAZING BUCK HOWARD. John Malkovich and Colin Hanks and his dad Tom are all in this excellent semi transparent biography of the more than real life mentalist magician The Amazing Jim Kweskin. Malkovich is always excellent and in this one he's even better. Colin Hanks will probably end up being as good an actor as pops. It's a completely absorbing film; one that as so many folks are demanding now, will really entertain you.
CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC NEWS. The Big Saturday night concert this year will be a Grateful Dead tribute complete with a tie in to UCSC's new collection of Grateful Dead ephemera and exhibits and talks...but don't tell anybody. And now's the time to think about housing a musician during the festival. The Festival runs August 2-16 and if you call the office at 426-6966 you can help the festival in lots of other ways too.
LES SIX CONCERT. The Santa Cruz Chamber Players now in their 30th season present some of the most diverse concerts in Northern California.
This Saturday March 21st at 8pm and Sunday March 22 at 3pm they are presenting a concert titled Six by Seven: The Music of Les Six. That mean musics by Poulenc, Milhaud, Honegger, Tailleferre, Durey , Georges Auric all driven or inspired by Jean Cocteau. Jeff Gallagher clarinet and Michael Tierra piano will be on University Grapevine this Thursday 4-5pm to talk about it all. The concerts will be at Christ Lutheran Church 10707 Soquel Drive in Aptos. Go to www.scchambers.org to get all the details, or call 425-3149
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. I host University Grapevine every Thursday KZSC 88.1 fm 4-5 pm. Claudio Campagna wrote a few books, one with Burney LeBoeuf about elephant seals. Campagna edited a new one "Adrift...Tales of Ocean Fragility" he presents a new way of looking at our remaining marine life. I met him at The Penny University. We'll talk about his concerns and worries over our ocean life. In the second half hour Michael Tierra and Jeff Gallagher from The Santa Cruz Chamber Players will talk about Les Six and the concert mentioned about one inch above this.
QUOTES. "When a small man casts a long shadow, the sundown is near", Vietnamese saying. "PROPAGANDA, n. Their lies.... PUBLIC INFORMATION, n. Our lies", Edward S. Herman. "If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with. No more appeasement." Ronald Reagan.
Deep Cover
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
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LA BAHIA REDUX. The people continue to ask for things like story poles so we can see the visual impact. They point out that the plans for the new Marriott zipped through with no protest, no problems simply because it adhered to the agreed upon ordinances. Why can't Barry Swenson and Charlie Canfield do the same? As we've been told so many times and we've seen it....exceeding the height limit along our Boardwalk will immediately set new height limits and we'll have another Waikiki/ Miami skyline on our most treasured piece of property. Swenson is asking for and the City Council is kissing up to "Spot Zoning" at its worst. Yes, I've heard Charlie Canfield owns permanent rights to the title Slumlord Millionaire...he deserves them.
Big Box Stores – do they ever give up?
Wal-Mart's effort to build a "superstore" in Salinas hit a snag last week when the Salinas City Council voted to restrict the size of retail stores in their city. This issue is particularly interesting, since Wal-Mart wants to expand onto a deserted Home Depot site on Boronda Road.
Home Deport sold this old building to Wal-Mart to build another, larger Home Depot (on prime agricultural land) nearby, and left their old store for Salinas to figure out what to do with. It's good to see a city council face up to Wal-Mart and their ever-increasing goal of building larger stores without hiring union workers at fair wages. We can expect to see similar pressure from Wal-Mart to do something in Pajaro, just across the Santa Cruz County line in Monterey County. If you'd like to learn more about how the Wal-Mart business model affects its employees, a city and its residents - and what you can do to help turn Wal-Mart into a responsible corporation - visit http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/
How much did Circuit City really add to Santa Cruz County before they departed, going out of business? At least the trees along the highway have grown tall enough to block this ugly building from view!
The cost of doing business with Republicans In order to get the three votes needed from the Republicans to pass the budget, the Dems had to give up plenty. The most onerous (my opinion) was the stripping of funds from public transit, and caving to the highway lobby by agreeing not to require environmental reviews of nine major highway projects.
Our Metropolitan Transit District will be the big loser in this area. The Senate Republican Caucus demanded that 100% of the Democrats vote to support the transit cuts (read that elimination of transit support) in order to get the three Republicans votes for the budget. The Democrats reluctantly did just that – they caved in order to pass the budget. Here's what we lost:
Major METRO Projects Eliminated:
MetroBase Operations/Bus Parking Facility $22.0 million
ParaCruz Replacement $ 2.1 million
Smart Card Fare System $ 2.0 million
Bus Shelter Improvement Program $ 2.0 million
Bus Stop Accessibility Program $ 2.0 million
Transit Management Information $ 1.8 million
Replace 30 diesel buses $15.0 million
Replace 1974 2-way radio system and repeaters w/AVL $ 6.0 million
Total $52.9 million
The final sharp stick in the eye..
To add insult to injury, the Republicans demanded (and got Democrats to agree) that nine highway projects being planned should be exempt from CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act. Most of these are in the Central Valley and Southern California, but they do include the U.S. Highway 101 Doyle Drive reconstruction in San Francisco. None of these are anything but the Republicans kissing up to the highway lobby.
PVUSD SCHOOL BOARD LEAVES PARENTS AND TEACHERS OUT IN THE COLD AGAIN.
You would have thought that the Pajaro Valley School Board would have learned a lesson after it was forced to cancel a meeting on an expected $17 million in school budget cuts on February 25th due to its meeting room exceeding its capacity. The Watsonville Fire Department shut down the Feb. 25th meeting after hundreds of teachers, classified school workers and parents showed up in full force. The school board subsequently moved it March 4th meeting to a larger venue at the multipurpose room at Ann Soldo Elementary School, but again was easily jammed packed and over 200 parents, teachers and young children were left out in the cold outside. The multipurpose room could fit nearly 400 people, but could not accommodate the over 600 people that showed up. The parking was also inadequate as dozens of cars drove in circles in the parking lot after not being able to find a place to park. Public comments started especially late and hundreds of parents were forced to leave even before they had an opportunity to speak at the microphone about their concerns over the proposed cuts. The school board was again heavily criticized for not choosing a larger available venue, and hundreds chanted, "chop the top!" referring to a claims that the PVUSD district was top heavy with its 7 superintendents. Another meeting was held the next day at Aptos High School. In the end, the majority of the school board members refused to support a motion by Trustee Karen Osmundson to cut the three assistant superintendent positions. Trustee Sandra Nichols was the only other trustee to support Osmundson' s motion. A 2004 management audit had proposed getting rid of the assistant superintendent positions as being too costly. However, the school board majority voted at the Aptos High meeting to keep the 3 positions and instead voted to give pink slips to over 200 teachers and classified school workers. Teachers protested at various locations last Friday and vow to continue their protests at this Wednesday's meeting (March 11th), but this time the school board learned its lesson after two tries. It will hold its March 11th meeting at the Henry Mello Center at Watsonville High School.
RENEWABLE ENERGY CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN MONTEREY ON FRIDAY.
Conversations about renewable energy will take place this Friday, March 13th at the Renewable Energy Conference being organized by local labor groups including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local 234. Various prominent experts in the field are expected to share their thoughts about reducing the carbon footprint and utilizing emerging green practices. The conference will be held at the Monterey Conference Center at One Portola Plaza in Monterey between 11am-2pm.
PAJARO VALLEY DEMOCRATS TO HEAR FROM SHERIFF CANDIDATE PHIL WOWAK. The Pajaro Valley Cesar Chavez Democratic Club will hold its next meeting on Monday, March 16th @ 7 p.m. at the Watsonville SEIU Office (on 10 Alexander Street), and Santa Cruz County Sheriff Candidate Phil Wowak will be sharing his thoughts on various issues. It will be the first time a sheriff candidate has ever come to speak with South County Democrats.
We the people are still awaiting word from the Santa Cruz City Council about why they took these three (3) actions relative to the UCSC/CITY/CLUE settlement.
1. Filed the LAFCO application, thus pitting opponents of extending services against the City and not against the University. Even if some legal interpretation of the agreement could require the City to file, City could and should have put the burden and costs where they belong.
2. Agreed to split costs of EIR and to bear the cost of City staff time in preparing the EIR and conducting the LAFCO hearing---first time that I know of that the City helped to pay EIR costs for a developer.
3. Passed the substitute Prop J when they must have known it was void at the time they passed it.
Maybe if we repeat these questions and facts every week or so in Salvo the Council will let us in on their secrets...just maybe??
BACK TO PRT
Meanwhile, a major West Coast Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) conference was held in Oakland last Friday March 6th . There were a series of excellent presentations by experts in public transportation. Councilmember Mike Rotkin does not claim to be an expert, but he made some valuable contributions to the afternoon panel discussion.
What was suggested was an approach to PRT that is, for me at least, new. Our City is legally obligated to reduce carbon emissions to 1990- levels. Transportation is the major contributor to global warming. Hence emissions from cars must be reduced. We are incapable of handling new roads, and existing roads are not adequate to handle existing traffic, let alone new trips from normal growth and from new developments. Meanwhile, we are also legally obligated to increase our housing stocks each year. What are the possible solutions? Which solutions can actually reduce VMT (vehicle miles traveled)? And what method, style or conveyance can transport people most efficiently and at least cost. In the last analysis, these are the issues. We didn't start out by advocating PRT. But... Personal Rapid Transit, aka Pod cars, is by far the best solution.
PRT systems are on the march around the world and in the US. Think Uppsala, Heathrow, Masdar, Ithaca, San Jose, and Fresno---do we want to be behind Fresno and San Jose? Which ever city installs the first system will win plaudits and ever so many visitors. It's a guaranteed tourist attraction. And it will also perform a genuine service for local residents. Our famously progressive city is infamously reactionary at matters involving real change. PRT is a revolutionary technology, as revolutionary as the jet airplane. It is quiet and inexpensive when compared to all other modes of local transport. It produces zero emissions and can operate largely on solar power. It could be a very substantial economic benefit to the community.
No PRT or other system can please everyone. But nobody has come up with a reasonable alternative. "Doing nothing" may well be "the Santa Cruz way", but problems don't get solved by ignoring them--- just ask the residents of High and Bay Streets, not to mention Mission. Complying with our legal and ethical obligations regarding global warming is a substantial challenge, but PRT can help meet it.
PATTON'S PROGRAM. Reading Gary's KUSP radio scripts here gives you the hundreds of websites he resources for all the land use topics he talks about. This week he gets into water planning in Monterey , Soquel, and Santa Cruz. Naturally he talks about the proposed Santa Cruz Water Shortage Contingency Plan. He talks about our County supervisors and how the "Affordable Housing" part of development is mutilated so often and why...and how. He brings up King Street and the bicycle boulevard that People Power is pushing so hard and how it will divert more car traffic to Mission Street. Gary discusses Wal-Mart the downtown killer and Salinas's battle. He closes sweetly by saying we should all take spring hikes.
EAGAN'S DEEP COVER. Tim asks and I repeat, "How Now Down Dow?" scroll downwards and find out!!!
LANDAU'S PROGRES. Saul's column in the latest Progreso is titled, "Israel Policy Gives Jews a Bad Name" and it leads with, "Most Jews I know get little pleasure from the existence of Israel; just the opposite. They feel disgusted by the behavior of their tribal kin toward Palestinians. We need to read it...probably twice
WATERS WEIGHS IN. Christina W. is wild about Jeff Emery's Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards wines which as she says, are getting lots of splash in the glossies, and she previews the all-new, industrial moderne New Leaf on the Westside at www.christinawaters.com. The market opens Wednesday March 11at 8am it's at 1101 Fair Avenue.
FLUFFY TOILET PAPER ALERT. The ever-vigilant Kelly Rivas passes this on... "Just learned this, multi-plied, soft, fluffy toilet paper comes from virgin wood and can be more damaging to the environment than Hummers.
WATCHMEN. This absolutely amazing film is really for comic book-graphic novel fans only. For them (I'm one) it is an adaptation of the 1986 comic book series that is great fun. I did read or view the graphic novel just one day before seeing the movie and you should too. It is also multi-leveled, confusing, intricate, and well acted and remember that these six costumed characters are NOT super powered Christ-like heroes like Superman, Batman, Spiderman or The Flash. Most of these characters are criminals, killers, and nearly or totally insane vigilantes. Who else would dress in a costume and kill criminals to preserve our society? Only one has super powers and the 2:40 movie stretches from 1985 45 years into the future. The sound track contains Nat King Cole, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen and cost over $100 million to make. Time magazine called the original graphic novel one of the 100 best books and its also ranked up there with Art Speigleman's Maus as one of the 10 best Graphic Novels ever. Its way deeper and more thoughtful than Batman could ever be. It only works on the big screen. It deals with the past, the future, the end of the world, morals, it's gory and bloody and full of sex. It has the JFK assassination, Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Henry Kissinger, Mars, Vietnam, and it all works IF you like graphic novels and comic books and especially if you check out the graphic novel before you go.
TWO LOVERS. Joaquin Phoenix says this is his last movie role before he devotes his life to music...or Rap!! He's perfect as the mixed up loser guy trying to choose between exotic, neurotic flashy phoney Gwyneth Paltrow (type cast???) or a fine wholesome Jewish girl. It'll end up on my top ten of the year and it's only March. I don't know when it opens at the Nick but go there and wait, it's worth it.
GOMORRAH. Gomorrah is the biblical city destroyed because it was so full of sin. Camorra is the other mafia operating in Italy and specifically in Naples where this movie was filmed. The movie breaks all the rules of the mobster-mob-innocent-families-killings-loyalty-inducting young boys' genre. It has almost no resemblance to Scorsese-Coppola or early Italian cinema verite. It is brutal, creative, scary, and because it says in closing credits that the Camorra international mob has already invested in the rebuilding of New York's Twin Towers it makes it real and makes you cringe.
SIN NOMBRE. As we are learning this means "no name". It's one of the best Mexicans- crossing -the- border movies I've ever seen. Two stories, one about Hondurans trying to get to New Jersey and being stopped by Mexicans. The other plot is about young love versus reality. It's real, poignant, and makes you wonder what if they had been heading to Watsonville instead of New Jersey would you care any more... or any less?
SANTA CRUZ THEATRE CONFERENCE @ UCSC. More local and nearby theatre admin, directors and actors met last Sunday morning at UCSC than I've ever seen in 35 years of writing about, critiquing and taking an active part on stage and on the boards of directors. As usual the publicity put out by theater groups for this conference was either non existent or poorly done and there were no attendees other than theatre people. Theatre people taking part in the forums had no clue that newspaper are in terrible trouble and either wondered or demanded that there be more theatre reviews printed...ha!! Theatre companies have yet to discover the internet, it was embarrassing. They didn't deal with the secret that there are only a handful of local actors who can act and that there are thousands of would be theatre goers in Santa Cruz who would attend if there were a theatre company that produced consistently good plays. I know of nearly hundreds of theatre goers who regularly attend plays in San Jose, Berkeley, and San Francisco who have simply given up on local theatre because it's so poorly done. Local theatre has a lot of problems but until they begin to handle minimal promotion demands and developing the quality of their productions they'll never regain the success we had in the late 70's and ‘80's with Bear Republic Theatre, Storefront Theatre, and Staircase Theatre as examples.
CASTROVILLE'S CENTRAL TEXAN BBQ TO CLOSE. Sharon Korzep emails to tell us...."The neighborhood will be sad to see The Central Texan BBQ a most wonderful spot for some great BBQ, close at the end of March. I guess the owner has some health problems and has decided to close the restaurant.... will leave the sawdust on the floor...Get your bbq favorites before they are gone forever!! It's at 10500 Merritt Street, (phone 831 633-2285) Sharon K.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY. It all happens this Saturday March 14th
The United Nations Association and many co-sponsoring groups will be
celebrating International Women's Day on Saturday March 14 at the London Nelson Center Room 3 from 12 noon to 3 pm. Interesting speakers, International Soup Kitchen, Silent Auction and Treasure Sale. Not only that, but "The Meta4" will be performing nearly at noon that day. The Meta4 is a male vocal quartet featuring Jonathan Arthur, Jon Kennedy, Eric Morgan and the ever popular Richard Salzberg. Don't miss them.
For information contact Julie Esterly <jilani@esterly.com> or call Pat Arnold 425-7618
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE NEWS. KZSC 88.1 fm is in its second week of pledge drive right now. Like last week I'm making some special changes in the usual format to celebrate that most necessary and fun occasion. This Thursday March 12th from 4-5 p.m. Santa Cruz County Supervisor John Leopold will answer your phoned- in questions live on the air in the very first "ask your supe session" for the full hour. We'll talk about the County's hottest issues, and hear what John's learned in his first nearly 100 days on the job. And John being on the board of directors of Arhoolie Records will be bringing some special pledge drive gifts for you pledgers. Maybe even a recording of yours truly backing up blues great K.C.Douglas on "Mercury Blues" that we did back in the 60's. So plan on calling in to KZSC this Thursday from 4-5 p.m. at 459-2811 or 459-4036. Help keep KZSC and especially University Grapevine on the air...we had some grand pledges last week and they got autographed copies of Bill Domhoff's new Santa Cruz political history book The Leftmost City. And as I stated last week UCSC doesn't fully finance KZSC, we need your help.
SANTA CRUZ BAROQUE FESTIVAL.(repeat plug) They call their concert # 2. "The Natural Mandolin" for good reason. Across 3 centuries, the mandolin 'naturally' traveled throughout Europe and North America with immigrants, and was adopted by folk musicians nearly everywhere. Evoking the delights of al fresco concerts, the mandolin also caught the attention of Vivaldi, Beethoven and other composers. The concert will be Saturday, March 14, 2008 at 7:30 PM ~ UCSC Music Center Recital Hall and it Caterina Lichtenberg on mandolin with Linda Burman-Hall (harpsichord & fortepiano), and Mesut Özgen (19th-century & modern guitars). For more information: www.scbaroque.org tickets: - call 831-459-2159 or 457-9693.
THE SANTA CRUZ CHAMBER ORCHESTRA. Their concert is titled, "A French Affaire". It'll be an evening of music, art, and theater featuring guest lecturers, musicians and actors, presenting French Life and Culture from 1850 to1950. They will explore the artistic correlation and significance of this period, guided by special guests/lecturers including: Susan Hillhouse of the Museum of Art and History, Nabil Ghachem of Mosaic Theater Group, and Pianist Alberto Ráfols of the Santa Cruz Cultural Council. Music by Ravel - Quartet in F Major and Debussy - Violin Sonata. It happens Saturday March 14, 2009 @ 8pm at the First Congregational Church, 900 High Street Santa Cruz. Tickets are available at Streetlight Records or by Phone: 1.800.838.3006
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. I host University Grapevine Thursdays 4-5 KZSC 88.1 fm. See the above paragraph about this week's Pledge Drive featuring your call in phone calls to Santa Cruz County First District Supervisor John Leopold.. Tune in, make a Pledge, get a rare Emmy Award winning Arhoolie recording and support KZSC all at the same time. Please??
QUOTES. "Please do not shoot the pianist-he's doing his best", Oscar Wilde. "I liked your opera. I think I will set it to music", Ludwig van Beethoven. "I write music as a sow piddles", Wolfgang Mozart. It is sobering to think that when Mozart was my age he had been already been dead for a year", Tom Lehrer (1964)
Deep Cover
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
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LA BAHIA'S LATEST SPECIAL EFFECTS. Don "Cheeses will save us" Miller's continuing pitch for Barry Swenson's latest special effects designs for the La Bahia development in his editorial or in every article the Sentinel prints, has never printed the simple facts about what all of us who are only pleading for an acceptable, legal redesigning....or restoration are asking for. The Sentinel and the City Council are all too eager to give developers the first thing they ask for. They need to listen to the requests and reasons that our citizens and local groups are asking for. I asked Bill Malone of The Peoples Democratic Club (PDC) and Santa Cruzans for Responsible Planning (SCRP) to sum up his/our side of the issue he did...
"Let's Build a Better La Bahia" by Bill Malone
The La Bahia site is perhaps the crown jewel of Santa Cruz. Any nice hotel there will make lots of money. It does not have to have negative impacts on the community. It can be built to zoning and still be profitable. (Bill goes on to talk about the reasonable Union position, The City General plan, Community Values, and the still-illegal height of Swenson's scheme... more (link expands, click again to collapse).
THE HISTORIC LA BAHIA. I also asked Judy Steen for her personal comments on La Bahia. Judy is a long-time advocate of historic preservation, a member of the City Historic Preservation Commission, and a member of the Historic Landmark Committee of the Museum of Art & History. She too wrote a wonderful position paper telling of such important wonders of preserving the La Bahia as "Otar the Lampmaker" who is being recognized by Dallas Museum of Art in an exhibit of his architectural design while Santa Cruz seems intent on destroying his art. Among other vital things Judy Steen says,
"For the past twenty-five years, La Bahia has been a battleground of owner/developer versus historic preservationists. It has been protected by City of Santa Cruz historic building ordinances that are overseen by the Historic Preservation Commission and, ultimately, the City Council. While the owner has let the structure decline through benign neglect, it can be rehabilitated to its earlier grandeur and preserved for future residents and visitors to admire, or it may be demolished and replaced by a massive (by Santa Cruz standards) luxury hotel complex. Whether all or parts of the building can be preserved or whether the entire building can be destroyed is being argued through deep piles of paper. Basically, the devil is in the details and in the dollars". Read all of Judy's personal opinion on saving the La bahia here (link expands, click again to collapse).
OTAR THE LAMPMAKER. Who knew about OTAR here's a link to a Mid County Post piece on Otar. 
Click the photo for more views of this brass and copper box by Otar. Are we really that intent on destroying his La Bahia?? Think about that.
THE GALLERIA & FEEDBACK. After reading BrattonOnline last week about Barry Swenson and Company building La Galleria Jim Ellmore architect and concerned citizen emailed to tell us..." From what I remember, the Galleria was done by the Carl N. Swenson Company, located at 777 N. First Street in San Jose. Carl N. Swenson, the founder was Barry's grandfather. His son, Cliff W. Swenson, was the president at the time of the Galleria; Barry was an employee of the company. As for the plaque that says, "Plaza Project Developers C. W. Swenson, Inc.," I would venture a guess that a separate entity was formed to do the project." But ask Cliff, he would know.
In the early 1970s, I approached Barry (having known him from a previous project) to get involved in the Deer Park Center in Rio Del Mar and the Carl N. Swenson Company became the developer. In 1977 Barry split from his grandfather's company and later started Barry Swenson Developer. But ask Barry, he would know.
In 1982, the Carl N. Swenson Company closed its doors and Cliff retired. Last year, I talked to Ron Swenson who lives in Sandy Cruise, Barry's brother and Cliff's son, who said that Cliff was still kicking and in his 90's. But ask Ron, he would know. Jim Ellmore (From now on we'll ask Jim Ellmore, he would know)
PHILIP SLATER'S NEW BOOK. I interviewed Phil Slater about his new book, "The Chrysalis Effect...The Metamorphosis of Global Culture" on University Grapevine last week. As usual Phil has taken a broad and wide and heightened view of life on the planet. It's a view that he began way back when he wrote The Pursuit of Loneliness and he carried that view through his other books such as A Dream Deferred, The Wayward Gate, Earthwalk and How I Saved the World. What I hadn't known until Phil talked about them on the program was that he was involved with LSD experiments on the Harvard campus where he taught at least five years before Timothy O'Leary got there. Phil talked about those experiments and the openness he learned all those years ago. Read Chrysalis Effect....available at your favorite locally owned bookstore..
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE NEWS. KZSC starts its' pledge drive this week. I'm making some special changes in the usual format to celebrate that most necessary occasion. This Thursday March 5th from 4-5 p.m. author, former UCSC professor Bill Domhoff will be on for the entire hour to answer your phone calls about his new book, "The Leftmost City". Bill claims that Santa Cruz has been "further to the left for a longer period of time than any other city in the country, bar none, since at least the heyday of the new deal". Bill is offering copies of his book as pledge gifts so plan on calling in to KZSC this Thursday from 4-5 p.m. at 459-2811 or 459-4036. Next week First District Supervisor John Leopold will be answering your phoned in questions on University Grapevine and he's bringing some special Arhoolie recordings as Pledge gifts. More later but do help keep KZSC and University Grapevine on the air...yes, these are tough times. No, UCSC doesn't fully finance KZSC, we need your help.
ABOUT SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. I thought Slumdog Millionaire was the most exploitive film since Roberto Benigni in his "Life is Beautiful" movie made an almost musical from the Holocaust. Now, as we read the follow up suffering stories of what's been happening to the poor kids who were made into feel good cute cuddly toys and paraded through Hollywood we see mercenary meanness at its worst. Here's a piece from New York Times about what happened in India, "Small bursts of outrage greeted the film when it opened in India recently, including a protest several weeks ago in front of Mr. Kapoor's house, where children held up placards that read "Don't call me dog."
In the current issue of India Today, a weekly magazine, a filmmaker named Priyadarshan called it "absolute and intentional exploitation of India." A more sobering response came on Monday from Dilbur Parakh, who heads a charity-run school where two of the film's youngest stars, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, and Rubina Ali Qureshi, 9, are enrolled. The children still live in a sprawling shantytown whose name, Garib Nagar, literally means the enclave of the poor. The filmmakers pay their school fees. To Ms. Parakh, the story of "Slumdog" echoed the stories of hundreds of Indian children she had met. "This is the way it really is," she said. "We can't ignore it. We have to face it. I mean Indians as a whole." That a Briton made the film did not much matter to her. "It really is an Indian story," said Ms. Parakh, who is also the chairwoman of Aseema, the nonprofit organization in Mumbai that runs the school.
FIRE MARSHALL SHUTS DOWN TENSE PAJARO VALLEY SCHOOL BOARD MEETING LAST WEEK.
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees will hold two additional meetings this week on the proposed $18 million dollars in budget cuts. This is after the Watsonville Fire Marshal shut down their meeting last week due to hundreds of teachers, school employees, students and parents packing the meeting. People were so jam packed in the room that they poured out into the hallways and were crowded outside wanting to voice their concerns regarding nearly $18 million in educational cuts. But it should have come to no one's surprise that a huge number would turn out since nearly 300 people are expected to receive pink slips, and the district is proposing to eliminate all or most of its after-school sports, nurses, librarians and bus services. The district may also be faced with closing its current district office located at The Towers at 294 Green Valley Road where they are paying a hefty lease agreement. It may also be getting rid of its zone system structure (north, central and south) which has been criticized in a past management audit as being too costly and ineffective. What was most upsetting was that many community members requested that the school board seek a large venue for the meeting over two weeks ago, but the district refused to change their meeting location. After the meeting began last week, things got so tight that some members in the audience called the fire emergency number. Things could have easily got out of hand as the budget cuts were already a very emotional issue, there was no seating, conditions were very over-crowded, and the school district had left the budget towards the end of the meeting agenda. Many folks were already upset as the agenda packet, with details about the proposed budget cuts, that is usually posted on website on the Friday before the Wednesday meeting was not posted due to the scanner allegedly breaking down. People only got the materials one day before the meeting. It looks the PVUSD school board has only brought more heat and distrust upon themselves for handling the budget crisis so poorly to date. The school board meeting this week will be held on Wednesday March 4 th at Ann Soldo Elementary School at 7pm and at Aptos High School on Thursday at 5:15pm.
COUNTY SUPERVISOR JOHN LEOPOLD TO SPEAK AT CESAR CHAVEZ DEMOCRATIC CLUB MEETING.
Newly elected County Supervisor John Leopold came to meet Watsonville Democrats at the last Pajaro Valley Cesar Chavez Democratic Club meeting last February 23. Leopold shared his ideas to bring green jobs to Santa Cruz County, and to utilize the nearly $60 million in municipal bonds for redevelopment projects in Live Oak. He wants to make sure that most of that money remains in local hands. He also expressed his openness to continue working and hearing concerns from Watsonville residents. Since Leopold is always a critical vote on issues that impact Watsonville, some of the Watsonville Democrats also expressed concerns about future economic development in Watsonville, reducing county waste after the last trash incinerator proposal, and the selection of a new county sheriff. Sheriff candidate Phil Womack is already scheduled to speak at the next Cesar Chavez Democratic Club meeting on March 16th at the new SEIU Watsonville office at 10 Alexander Street.
LATINO POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE TO HOST EVENT WITH SENATE MAJORITY LEADER DEAN FLOREZ IN APRIL.
The relatively new Latino Political Action Committee of Santa Cruz County just announced that it is holding its first major fundraising event with Senate Majority Leader and Lieutenant Gubernatorial Candidate Dean Florez. This major event will be Thursday, April 16 Florez, who represents the Central Valley, is seen as the top contender for lieutenant governor and has been a very effective senator who has taken the lead on environmental justice, air quality, farmworkers and fiscal responsibility issues. Assembly member Bill Monning, Assemblywoman Anna Caballero and former Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Fred Keeley are all expected to speak the event, and the list of special guests is already growing. The Latino PAC formed to help raise funds to support Latinos and Latinas to run for local office, and to support policies and other candidates that positively impact the Latino community. Tickets are selling for $50 and the event will take place at the Santa Cruz SEIU Union Office at 517 Mission Street.
LOS LOBOS TO PLAY AT THE CATALYST IN SANTA CRUZ ON FRIDAY. Los Lobos are expected to pack the house at the Catalyst Night Club in Santa Cruz on Friday night March 7. Los Lobos have a long history with the Pajaro Valley. They held a huge benefit along with legendary guitarist Santana at Watsonville High School's Geiser Field after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake to help the earthquake victims, and they were the featured musicians in the soundtrack of the motion picture, La Bamba, about the late singer Ritchie Valens whose family still lives in Watsonville. Los Lobos always put on a great show and you want to get your tickets early since they are expected to sell out by Friday.
It's not often that the Santa Cruz City Council spends much time at a meeting on things not on the agenda. But that happened last week. The item on the agenda was a presentation by the City Water Department of its excellent water shortage contingency plan. Public comment on this was used as a springboard for a group led by Gary Patton (and a most welcome back to him) for lengthy public comment on water service to UCSC's proposed North Campus. It centered on Prop J (or, more properly, what little remains of it), LAFCO, and asked why the city should split the costs of the EIR with UCSC. All of the things, in fact, that this Salvo has been publicizing in recent weeks. Thanks to Mayor Mathews for permitting discussion on these off the agenda topics.
Since these matters weren't on the agenda, the Council could not act on them. Still, Council members became advised of citizen concerns about decisions made somewhere by someone, at some time, that by-passed the Council and made very definite City commitments.
I don't know whether these decisions should have been made by the Council instead of by staff. In any event, the Council and the public should have been advised about several significant things: about a commitment to spend an indeterminate amount of money that the City may not have, about requiring the City to defend a LAFCO application and an attack on the EIR, with City funds. Perhaps those who made the decision to keep the Council and public in the dark were concerned about not throwing a monkey-wrench into the City/UCSC agreement. Still, there is something to be said for a democratic process.
The people who spoke at the Council meeting made it very clear that they want answers. I hope that the persons who made the decisions will give us those answers. They haven't yet but they could and should be compelled to by the Council. I'm fully prepared to believe the decisions were made in good faith and for the perceived best interests of the City and with no intent to mislead the public---except as to new Prop J. We want answers and we are entitled to them.
An official response to a Public Records request did not reveal the names of the decision-makers, nor has it produced any records of any relevant discussions. It must be that there were no discussions and that the actions were taken by magic. It takes a Councilmember to put these issues on the agenda in order that the matters may be thoroughly aired. One would hope that happens. We hear rumors that the City may be discussing these public concerns with the University, perhaps convincing the University to bear EIR costs and carry the burden on the LAFCO hearing. I hope so---that would solve part of the problem.
PATTON'S PROGRAM. Gary talks about Paso Robles and development then he gives 5 rules he created about how to represent the public once you are elected. He talks about the importance of the Coastal Commission and that it'll be meeting near here. There's also the battle between Salinas and Wal Mart and about the March 10th meeting of the Santa Cruz City Council.
EAGAN'S DEEP COVER. Scroll down to see how Mr. Eagan and only Mr. Eagan would advise the Republican Party in this time of their defeat. AND doesn't the elephant look familiar??? He says it's a liberal view and he takes his liberties!!!
LANDAU'S PROGRES. Saul goes "On the Road Again", talks about Jesus, billboards and the backbone of America
WATERS WEIGHS IN. Christina raves about Gabriella's new chef, her new favorite pasta dish, shares a blush wine discovery and flavor-intensive jams from River Cafe. All at www.christinawaters.com
SHAKESPEARE GANG. Don Young and Jeff Towle once again invite everybody for a free four week Shakespeare Study group at the Aptos Library the next four Saturday mornings at 10am starting Saturday March 7. We'll be discussing "Merchant of Venice". Call 662-0302 for more information.
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. If you too are a veteran of hundreds of British movies, and have a bunch of UK friends you'll love this You Tube bit of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie doing their take on "The English Language".
WENDY AND LUCY. No matter how old you are you'll react to Wendy's loneliness as she bumps around a Walgreen's parking lot in some Oregon town looking for her dog Lucy. Michelle Williams is a perfect actress for the part. It's a small intimate deeply personal movie and you should definitely go see it.
CHE. Steven Soderbergh, dared to make this 2 part epic saga but just like Milk and W the other major and similar political biographies, none tell us enough of the background of their "heroes" to make us care or more importantly understand why these guys chose the political paths they did. Che is ambitious, huge, reminiscent and even important but like the other 2 movies there isn't any soul.
MOSCOW, BELGIUM. That movie title isn't even being clever. In Belgium there's a city named Ghent where the movie was made and in Ghent there's a blue collar neighborhood named Moscou or Moscow.
NICOLAS NICKELBY. Part One of Charles Dickens' "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" plays March 5-8, 2009 (Thu-Sat performances at 7:00 PM; Sunday at 3:00 PM) on UCSC's Mainstage where Shakespeare Santa Cruz plays. They're doing David Edgar's 1980 revisioning of the novel they claim brings colorful 19th century characters to the stage in 4-hour theatrical extravaganza! "Nickleby " features a huge student cast with each actor playing numerous roles. It's directed by UCSC Theatre Arts professor Kathy Foley. It's being presented by the UCSC Theater Arts Department with support from Porter College (UCSC). FIGHT HUNGER in the 21st century by attending *OPENING NIGHT SPECIAL (3/5) : all tickets $2 Donate a non-perishable food item or a cash contribution of at least $1, and pay only the per-ticket service fee ($2).All donations will be given to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz Counties. tickets: 831-459-2159 www.santacruztickets.com
FAGGOT ARABESQUE. This is a new performance piece created and directed by UCSC professor of theater arts Danny Scheie. Danny was on my radio program University Grapevine 2 weeks ago and among other things, said between laughs that this would definitely be called a pro-faggot production. It'll be outrageous fun which you can guess, if you know Danny. He stated," "The piece includes lots of dance, music, and video and staged treats vaguely based on representations of Arabia in super-western art like Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Kismet, Disney, TV, and the influence of American film — specifically those with planes and stewardesses — in Saudi Arabia. Eventually these intersect with Mormon fanaticism, al Qaeda hijackers, and the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy of the U.S. military and their discharge of gay Arab linguists." It too is Presented by the UCSC Theater Arts Department Friday–Sunday, March 6–8 & Thursday–Sunday, March 12–15 performances at 7:00 pm (except closing Sunday 3/15 at 3:00 pm) It'll be at the Second Stage Theater which is just down the hill from the Mainstage Theatre at the UCSC Theater Arts Center. It's free for UCSC undergrads w/ ID or at the UCSC Ticket Office 459-2159.
NEW MUSIC WORKS. I mentioned The New Music Works "Night of The Living Composers" concert coming to the Kuumbwa, next Saturday the 7th but it isn't. Financial problems.
SANTA CRUZ BAROQUE FESTIVAL. They call their concert # 2. "The Natural Mandolin" for good reason. Across 3 centuries, the mandolin 'naturally' traveled throughout Europe and North America with immigrants, and was adopted by folk musicians nearly everywhere. Evoking the delights of al fresco concerts, the mandolin also caught the attention of Vivaldi, Beethoven and other composers. The concert will be Saturday, March 14, 2008 at 7:30 PM ~ UCSC Music Center Recital Hall and it Caterina Lichtenberg on mandolin with Linda Burman-Hall (harpsichord & fortepiano), and Mesut Özgen (19th-century & modern guitars). For more information: www.scbaroque.org tickets: - call 831-459-2159 or 457-9693.
THE SANTA CRUZ CHAMBER ORCHESTRA. Their concert is titled, "A French Affaire". It'll be an evening of music, art, and theater featuring guest lecturers, musicians and actors, presenting French Life and Culture between 1850-1950. They will explore the artistic correlation and significance of this period, guided by special guests/lecturers including: Susan Hillhouse of the Museum of Art and History, Nabil Ghachem Mosaic Theater Group, and Pianist Alberto Ráfols of the Santa Cruz Cultural Council. Music by Ravel - Quartet in F Major and Debussy - Violin Sonata. It happens Saturday March 14, 2009 @ 8pm at the First Congregational Church, 900 High Street Santa Cruz. Tickets are available at Streetlight Records or by Phone: 1.800.838.3006
LIVE THEATRE WORKSHOP. On Sunday March 8 from 9-12AM in the Theatre Arts Center Main Stage "Theatre and Community in the Bay" will be the topic. Noted African American director Buddy Butler, Teatro Campesino' s Kinan Valdez, the African American Theatre Arts Troupe's Don Williams, Susan Myers of Pisces Moon Productions, Marco Barricelli of Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and Wilma Marcus from Actors Theatre of Santa Cruz and UCSC ArtsBridge will speak, exploring how in Hard Times artists can work together to promote our common goals of more social justice, more community and using art to make that happen. There'll also be short performance pieces. This event is free and open to the public.
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. I host University Grapevine Thursdays 4-5 KZSC 88.1 fm. See the above paragraph about this week's Pledge Drive featuring Bill Domhoff and his book The Leftmost City. Tune in, make a Pledge, get a copy of the book, and support KZSC all at the same time. Please??
QUOTES. "I don't understand anything about the ballet. All I know is that during the intervals the ballerinas stink like horses", Anton Chekov. "This is either a forgery or a damn clever original", Frank Sullivan. "The light at the end of the tunnel is the light of an oncoming train", Robert Lowell.
Deep Cover
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
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